The Cullens Meet the Potters
by peevesisawesome
Summary: The Cullens move out of Forks and into...Scotland! What will happen when they discover their new neighbours are none other than the Potters? Will the two families get along?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was a relatively warm spring day, and the Cullens were gathered together in the dining room to discuss their next place of residence. Renesmee had now reached full maturity and was excited to be able to enter the human world properly for the first time in whichever place they chose as their new home.

"So," said Carlisle, once all the family (including Jacob) was assembled at the polished mahogany table. "I've given one month's notice to the hospital. We need to decide on where to settle down next. Obviously we can't go anywhere near the places we've been to in the past hundred years, and there are also the requirements of a good number of sun-free days and enough large animals to sustain our diets."

"There's also another problem", said Edward. "Before now we could just move to another state and the chances of meeting someone from our past would be very small. However, since that scare last month where one of our classmates found a picture of us in Forks on Facebook, we have to be much more careful. We'd probably have to go somewhere really remote…"

"Oh great," said Rosalie in a scathing tone, "Now we're going to have to live like hermits in the middle of nowhere. I'm so excited."

"Shut up, Rosalie," said Jacob. "The only reason you care is because you won't be able to terrorise anyone with your horrible looks and personality."

Rosalie growled, but before she could respond, Carlisle stepped in.

"I actually have an idea, which doesn't involve such seclusion, and may be more attractive to everybody."

"Oh, yes, I see," said Edward quietly, after he had read Carlisle's mind. "That's not a bad idea…it would be interesting to go there."

"Carlisle, please tell everyone else this plan before I go crazy and rip Eddie-boy's mind-reading head off," said Emmett, annoyed at being left out of the loop.

"OK, Emmett. I was just thinking that perhaps we should move somewhere further afield, somewhere outside the US. You know that I grew up in England, so I was thinking that perhaps we could move to somewhere in Britain. That should be far enough for most of the links to be severed, and the chances of bumping into someone who knows us or is friends with someone who knows us are much smaller."

"That is a totally awesome idea!" said Emmett. "British people are cool!"

"Also, if we move to Scotland there should be enough cloud cover for us to be able to go about our normal lives, and the Highland animals should provide plenty of sustenance. There is also an old friend of mine who lives in Scotland whom I'd like to visit. We haven't seen each other in a long time; I just hope that he still lives there."

"So does everyone agree?" asked Edward.

Everyone seemed to think that it was a good idea, and were eager to start the next phase of their adventure.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The graveyard was almost deserted on this wet evening. Only three people could be seen amongst the tombstones: a young girl with red hair, kneeling by a simple double gravestone with a bunch of flowers, and two supernaturally beautiful young men with pale skin and golden eyes, wandering around with an air of enquiry, stopping occasionally to read the names carved into the numerous memorials.

Carlisle and Edward had decided to visit the graveyard to see if they could learn anything from its former inhabitants, and especially for Carlisle to visit the graves of some of the people he had met in his last visit to the small village. Rather thankfully, he could not seem to find Albus Dumbledore's grave here, so he assumed that he must still be alive, but much older than he was the last time their paths crossed.

A sudden squeal broke the silence, followed by a thud and a nasty cracking sound. Carlisle and Edward's heads snapped around immediately, to see the young girl sprawled on the ground, having seemingly tripped and banged her head rather hard upon the corner of another gravestone.

Carlisle immediately hurried over, glad to see that the girl was still conscious and without damage to any other part of her body, but whimpering in pain whilst clutching her head.

"Don't worry;" said Carlisle gently, bending over the small figure. "I'm a doctor. It seems as if you have hit your head pretty hard. Do you feel dizzy or confused in any way?"

"I feel fine, but my head really hurts," the girl said in a small voice. "I want to go home."

"How about we take you home?" spoke Edward, standing at Carlisle's shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll carry you and then Carlisle can treat you in comfort. Just tell us the way."

"Okay," said the girl. "It's quite close actually."

Edward picked the girl up and carried her carefully in his arms, and the three of them left the graveyard. Soon, following the child's directions, they reached a small house with stone walls and a small front garden. Carlisle rang the doorbell and waited.

Soon the door opened to reveal a man with messy black hair and round glasses. His eyes were a bright green, but were haunted with the look of someone who had seen far too many horrors for his age and had grown up far too quickly. He swiftly surveyed the scene in front of him, barely noticing the two men before his eyes zeroed in on his daughter being held in the younger man's arms and taking in all aspects of her appearance, including the blood in her hair and on her clothes.

"What happened to her?" he asked, his worry making the question sound more like an accusation.

"Don't worry, Daddy," said the little girl, "I tripped and banged my head in the graveyard. The man says that he's a doctor."

"I am, Dr Carlisle Cullen, and this is my son Edward" spoke Carlisle. "Your daughter wanted to come home, and I would find it easier to treat her here where there is a supply of bandages and antiseptics, I hope."

"Yes, yes, come in," said the man standing in the doorway. He stepped aside to allow the little group into the house.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Harry was sure that the strange man and his son were Muggles, so he quickly located Ginny and Teddy and told them about the visitors, before going to the bathroom and fetching the small supply of bandages they owned for when Harry wanted to avoid going to St. Mungo's. Once the two men had left, he was planning on taking the bandages off and fixing Lily's head straight away with magic—unfortunately he couldn't do that with the Muggles watching, so Lily would just have to suffer for a while. This was difficult for Harry, but any other action would involve breaking the law, and he wasn't prepared to go quite that far. All he could do was hope that the Muggles left soon.

When he returned, he saw Lily sitting on the sofa whilst Ginny was talking to the two guests. He smiled at them, and handed over his supply of bandages to the older man, who was supposedly a doctor.

"Here you go," said Harry. "Thank you so much for offering to help my daughter, Lily. I am Harry Potter and this is my wife Ginny."

"Thank you," said Carlisle. "This is perfect. I'll get to work straight away, then."

He moved over to where Lily was sitting on the couch, and with deft movements swiftly bandaged her head. Any doubts that Harry had about the man's claims that he was a doctor were quickly dispelled when he saw the precision with which he moved and the neatness of his handiwork.

"Thank you so much," he said, once Carlisle had finished. "Are you new to this neighbourhood? I don't think I've seen you before…"

"Yes we are," replied Carlisle. "My family lives in the big new house on the outskirts of the village. We would have loved to own a cottage nearer to the centre of things, but unfortunately our family is a bit too large for that sort of house to be comfortable. Apart from my son here, my wife and I have six other children, as well as a close family friend who is living with us at the moment."

"That is quite a large family, especially for one as young as you are," replied Harry. "I myself only have three children—my two sons are at boarding school at the moment—but I find that it's quite a handful at times, especially when Teddy, my godson, comes over as well."

"Well, my children are all adopted and are all around Edward's age, so they're easier to handle I suppose. But on another point, I was wondering if you know a man called Albus Dumbledore. I met him in this village three or four years ago, I think."

This statement caused a rapid change in atmosphere. Whilst before there was polite civility and friendly conversation in the sitting room, this state had now altered—there was tension and, on Harry's part, anger. Without thinking, he whipped out his wand and pointed it at Carlisle. Ginny followed suit and pointed her own wand at Edward.

"Albus Dumbledore has been dead for eighteen years," growled Harry menacingly. "Who are you and what do you want from my family?"

Carlisle didn't need Edward's mind-reading skills to know that he had made a big mistake. In a second, his vampire brain went through many possibilities that could excuse his statement without revealing what he and his family were, but each possibility seemed more unlikely to be believed than the last. In the end, he decided that he would have to trust Harry Potter and his family with the truth. After all, he was aware that they were magical, and therefore would be more likely to believe him than most.

"Please let me explain," said Carlisle in his gentle voice. "If you are not satisfied with my explanation, you can curse me all you want afterwards."

This visibly shocked Harry and Ginny, yet they did not let down their guard. They were both sure that the two men were not wizards; otherwise they would not resort to Muggle healing methods. So how did he know that they had the power to curse him?

Carlisle looked pleased at the impact his words had already had on the couple. His allusion to their abilities was not missed by either of them, and he hoped that this would make them more willing to listen to and believe his story.

"I did meet Albus Dumbledore in this village, but it was not three or four years ago, as I said before. It was in fact in the year 1940, when he had just defeated the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald."

"How is that possible?" asked Harry in a sceptical tone, keeping his wand pointed at Carlisle. "You can't have even been born then."

"Actually, I was born in the 17th century. I know that this may be hard to believe, but I am a vampire, and therefore I do not age. When I met Dumbledore, I was the same age (at least physically) as I am now."

Harry's eyes had widened at this statement, and now travelled between the vampire and the blood on Lily's clothes. The movement was not unnoticed by Carlisle.

"We are rather different from ordinary vampires. We resist the urge to drink human blood, instead having a diet of animals—this is why our eyes are gold instead of red. I myself have developed enough resistance to be able to practise as a doctor without much difficulty. You have no need to fear us."

"We?" asked Ginny faintly.

"Yes, my whole family is comprised of vampires, apart from one who is a vampire-human hybrid, the biological daughter of my son here…it's rather complicated to explain."

"Wow…" said Harry, slowly lowering his wand. "I knew vampires existed, of course, but I never expected to meet one that is a doctor! This is something new…"

"I don't understand. Why are you not afraid of us?" asked Edward, looking perplexed.

"Now that you have revealed yourselves, I noticed all the signs—the pale skin, the dark circles under the eyes, the unnatural beauty. We learn about your kind at school, and Defense Against the Dark Arts was my favourite subject, so I paid attention. You both fit the descriptions perfectly, apart from the eye colour. Your father said that you were not dangerous, and I have seen this for myself, what with you treating my daughter without difficulty. I therefore accept everything that you said—you are friendly vampires. It would be wrong to fear you on the basis of the majority of your kind."

"You are young for one so wise," said Carlisle. "I admire your open-mindedness and thank you for it. However, I am still shocked to hear that Albus is dead. I know that he would be quite old now, but don't wizards live longer than most humans?"

"We do, and Professor Dumbledore did not die of natural causes, I'm afraid. There have been dark times in the wizarding world since 1940, and unfortunately Dumbledore's death was one of many. But before I explain further, would you mind if I use magic to treat my daughter? Your bandaging is excellent, but I think magic would work rather more quickly."

"By all means, go ahead. It would be intriguing to see magical healing in action—I've never witnessed this before."

Harry pointed his wand at Lily's head, and following a burst of blue light, the bandages fell off and the wound sealed itself seamlessly. He then performed another spell to remove the blood from her hair and clothes.

"That was quite amazing," said Carlisle, watching with wide eyes. "I wish I could heal injuries that fast. Magical doctors must find it so much easier to treat their patients."

"Perhaps that is true for flesh wounds and simple injuries. However, although we have magical healing abilities, there are magical injuries too. It is less of a benefit when both sides use magic…but back to before. As I was saying, many things have occurred since you were last in contact with the wizarding world."

Harry began to explain about the rise of Voldemort and the First Wizarding War, before outlining his partial defeat at Godric's Hollow 33 years ago. He then went on to explain the revival of Voldemort and the Second Wizarding War, and finally Voldemort's death. During his explanations, the two guests listened in silence, absorbing all that they were hearing. Their predominant expressions were disbelief and astonishment, that one man could be so evil and cause so much grief and misery. They were also sorrowful, because although they did not know any of the people who died, they could empathise with those who did and they were sad to hear that so many brave people lost their lives fighting for justice.

At last, Harry finished his explanations. Carlisle chanced to look at the clock on the mantelpiece and was shocked to see that it was already 10 o'clock.

"Oh my, we really must be going home, it's so late. Perhaps you would like to visit us at some point?"

"That would be lovely," replied Ginny. "Tomorrow my sons will come back from school for two days, so we could come and visit you in the afternoon. Then you can meet our whole family, and we can meet the rest of yours. It's been great getting to know you."

With that, the two Cullens left the Potters' house and made their way back home to explain to the others what had occurred.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

When James and Albus arrived at Platform 9 ¾ at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, they were shocked to learn that they were going to have to visit a family of vampires. However, once the situation had been explained to them, their apprehension quickly changed into excitement at the thought of what lay ahead. The family opted for Side-along Apparition to the Potter house because driving would take far too long for them to arrive at the Cullens' house in time.

Once the children had gotten over the uncomfortable sensation of Apparating, the school trunks were dumped in the hallway to be unpacked later. The family were just about to set off to the outskirts of the town, where the Cullen House was situated, when a familiar voice sounded from the living room. It belonged to Teddy Lupin.

"Hey Harry, where are you going?" he said. "I just finished up at the Ministry so I thought I'd pop in to see you."

"Teddy! What a nice surprise. We were actually going to visit some new neighbours," replied Harry.

Once the Cullens had been explained to Teddy, he was more than happy to join them in their visit, so the six of them set off together and soon arrived at the house. Harry was just about to ring the doorbell when the door opened, revealing a smiling woman with brown hair.

"Welcome to the Cullen House," said the woman. "I'm Esme, Carlisle's wife. It's a pleasure to meet you—do come in."

The Potters entered the house and were ushered into the living room, where they were met with the sight of the whole family gathered to welcome them. Carlisle stepped forward.

"Hello, Harry, it's nice to see you again. Let me introduce you to my family. You've already met my wife, Esme, and my son Edward. The two sitting on the sofa are Rosalie and Emmett. Alice and Jasper are standing by the staircase. Bella is the one sitting next to Edward, and Renesmee and Jacob are the two sitting on the floor."

Everyone had smiled or waved when they were introduced, so the Potters could clearly see who was who. Now it was Harry's turn.

"This is my family here. Carlisle and Edward have already met my wife, Ginny, and my daughter Lily. These two are my sons, James and Albus, and this is my godson Teddy."

The two families then shook hands with each other and sat down together on the many sofas in the living room.

"Sorry for sounding rude, but Jacob does not look like a vampire to me. How does he know who you are?" asked Harry.

"I'm definitely not a vampire," said Jacob, chuckling. "Neither is Nessie, actually—she's half human."

"Really?" asked Albus, intrigued.

"Yeah, she's the biological daughter of Edward and Bella, conceived when Bella was still human," replied Jacob.

"So she is the vampire-human hybrid you mentioned yesterday, Carlisle. I didn't know that was possible," said Harry wondrously.

"Neither did we," spoke Carlisle. "It came as quite a shock when Bella told us she was pregnant."

"But to answer your original question," said Renesmee, "Jake is a werewolf."

At this point Teddy, who had been looking around the room, snapped his head around to look at Jacob. His eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke, his voice filled with pain and confusion.

"No you're not."

"Technically he is a shapeshifter who can assume the shape of a wolf. He does not need to wait until the full moon to change. There is no need to be so abrupt with us," said Carlisle.

"Don't chastise him, Carlisle," responded Edward. "His father was a real werewolf. The wizarding world regards them about as kindly as Caius does."

"How do you know that?" asked Teddy, turning to face Edward with an uncharacteristic expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, let me explain. You may have heard stories of vampires with extra talents. I am one of those vampires—I can read minds. I regret the invasion of your privacy, but I was curious as to why you had such a strong reaction."

"Me too," said Jasper. "I can feel emotions, as well as influence other people's emotions. I was wondering why you were so angry and confused just now."

"Perhaps I acted rather rashly," said Teddy, now looking more normal. "It's just I have suffered a lot for being the son of a werewolf, being called names like 'monster spawn' and 'wolf cub'. Sorry about that, Jacob."

"Don't worry about it," replied Jacob.

"Thanks. So…does anyone else have extra talents?" asked Teddy.

"I do," said Renesmee. "It's kind of the reverse of my dad's talent—I can show other people what I'm thinking by touching their face."

"I do too," said Bella. "I can shield myself and others from mental talents like Edward's. It's useful when the talents are rather more…sinister."

"I have a talent too," smiled Alice. "I can see the future. Of course, it's subjective according to peoples' decisions and it changes a lot—"

"And you can't see wolves or Nessie," added Jacob.

"Fine, I can't," Alice agreed grudgingly, "but it's a useful skill to have. For example, I can tell that it's going to rain tomorrow."

"Oh great," groaned James. "We're having another memorial service in the rain—just what I wanted."

"Shut up," said Teddy, punching him in the arm. "That's not funny."

"What memorial service is this?" asked Carlisle.

The Potters all became solemn, especially Teddy, Harry and Ginny. Jasper received the emotions coming off of them in shock, and seemed to be struggling to contain them. Edward was also struggling with both the Potters' minds and Jasper's.

"Jazz, are you okay?" asked Alice nervously. Jasper nodded his head with much difficulty.

Bella was watching Edward fearfully, before asking "Can someone please tell us what's going on?"

Teddy, Harry and Ginny all managed to contain their emotions somewhat; allowing Edward and Jasper to both breathe a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry," spoke Harry. "2nd May is a difficult day for us. It is the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, when Voldemort was finally defeated."

"But surely that should be a day of celebration?" asked Carlisle in confusion.

"For many witches and wizards it is, but for us it is a day of remembrance for all those who died for the cause of justice, not just in the final battle. That long list includes my parents, my godfather, Teddy's parents, Ginny's uncles and her brother, Fred, amongst many others. We have been deeply affected by these two Wizarding Wars."

"I think we can all see—and in some cases, feel—the depth of your grief at the terrible events which have occurred in the wizarding world. I am very sorry to hear of your losses, but I fear that there is little I can do to assist you at this difficult time."

"I appreciate the thought, but I think you are right, Carlisle. This is something that our family has to deal with on our own—although it doesn't help that half the wizarding world expects me to be celebrating with them and fulfilling my duty as the 'hero' by attending their parties."

"Wow, some people can be so insensitive," said Emmett.

"That's rich coming from you," retorted Jasper jokingly. This comment caused the mood of the room to lift and allowed the Potters to stop dwelling on painful subjects—that could wait until tomorrow.

The two families continued talking for a while longer, but at last the Potters left, promising that they would visit again soon. As Carlisle was seeing them out, he caught Harry's arm to hold him back behind his family.

"I just wanted to say that you really are a truly remarkable man, Harry, for carrying the expectations of the wizarding world upon your shoulders and yet performing so wonderfully. I think that few people realise that your responsibilities did not end with the Final Battle. In fact, I feel that perhaps your duties towards the wizarding world are even more difficult to bear now, because you no longer have the fear and threat of danger that pushed you forwards before. You have done well, and you should be proud of that. I feel that you do not always give yourself the credit you deserve, so I'm just reassuring you that what you are doing is correct. Never let other people's opinions sway you from what you know to be right and true, Harry. Remember that."

"Thank you, Carlisle. But all that I have achieved could not have been possible without my friends, my family, who supported me from the beginning and helped me immeasurably. I may have played a part in shaping the present as it is today, but it is only with the help of others that this present stands up under scrutiny to uphold the values of truth and justice. All I can wish for is that this current happier clime lasts for a long time, but I fear that it is not so. Already there are rumours of copycat 'Dark Lords' planning to take advantage of the power vacuum in the magical underworld. I only hope that they are subdued, or we may find ourselves facing new horrors…However, that possibility is unlikely. There have been many changes which will hopefully ensure that such destruction is never seen again."

"I hope, for all your sakes, that you are correct, Harry. I'm not sure how much more trauma you and your world can stand. But, anyway, let's come back to the present. I'm looking forward to seeing you again soon."

"Me too—your family is quite charming, and very interesting. It would be great to learn more about your kind."

With these parting words, Harry left and hurriedly rejoined his family, who were waiting for him. The Potters then made their way back to their house to think about what they had learned from their new acquaintances.

It seemed that a strong new friendship had formed between the two families.


End file.
